Faculty and Unclassified Staff Handbook Chapter 2 -- Academic Affairs

Instructional Programs

The following procedures are to be followed in the approval of new courses and programs.*

1. Proposed new courses numbered 000-499, after review and recommendation by the Faculty Senate, will be submitted to the associate provost for approval or disapproval. Proposed new courses numbered 600-699, including those in a graduate program, after review and recommendation by the Faculty Senate, will be submitted to the Graduate Council. The recommendations of the Faculty Senate and the Graduate Council will be submitted to the associate provost for approval or disapproval.

The Faculty Senate will not review new graduate courses numbered 800-999.

2. All new course proposals must be submitted on appropriate approval forms. These forms and general directions are available within the Course Management process in Lotus Notes. The proposals for courses 000-799 should be submitted to the Faculty Senate president, who will forward them to the Academic Affairs Committee. Courses numbered 800-999 must be submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School for distribution to the Graduate Council and the Committee on Curriculum. The department submitting a new course proposal is responsible for providing the necessary copies for that committee and to the Dean of the Graduate School for Graduate Council and Committee on Curriculum review.

3. A syllabus of the proposed course shall be provided as part of the documentation of the request for approval of the course.

4. Neither the Academic Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate nor the Committee on Curriculum as well as the Graduate Council will consider a new course proposal unless it has the prior approval of the appropriate department chair and dean.

5. New program proposals shall follow the same general procedures as outlined above.

6. New courses for undergraduate credit to be offered in the summer term and fall semester must be submitted to the president of the Faculty Senate by December 1 of the previous calendar year in order to insure their approval. New courses for the spring semester must be submitted by April 1 of the previous calendar year in order to insure time enough to complete the approval process. Any new course offering graduate credit only (800-999) must be submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School nine (9) months prior to the initial offering of the course. Courses 600-699 which offer both undergraduate and graduate credit must be received by the Dean of the Graduate School following Faculty Senate approval at least nine (9) months prior to the initial offering of the course.

7. Upon recommendation of courses by the Faculty Senate, materials regarding courses numbered below 499 will be forwarded to the assistant provost with the recommendation that they be approved. The associate provost will act upon the recommendations and inform the Faculty Senate president and appropriate offices. Materials regarding courses numbered 600-699 after approval by the Faculty Senate will be forwarded to the Dean of the Graduate School for review by the Graduate Council. The Dean of the Graduate School will, after Graduate Council action, forward his/her recommendation to the associate provost.

8. Any course not approved by the associate provost will become a subject for discussion at a meeting scheduled by the assistant provost with the president of Faculty Senate and the chair of the Academic Affairs Committee.

9. In addition to the routine submission of new undergraduate course proposals to the Senate for approval, the Academic Affairs Committee shall submit a report to the Senate in April each year listing the new programs and new courses which have been considered for approval by the committee.

10. All new program proposals* except minors require approval of the Board of Regents. Those requests are normally submitted by the provost to the Council of Chief Academic Officers (COCAO) in December with approvals ensuing sometime in the following spring semester. These undergraduate proposals should be sent to the Faculty Senate president by September 15 in order to ensure internal approval prior to submission externally. New graduate program proposals must be sent to the Dean of the Graduate School by September 15 in order to insure internal approval prior to submission externally.

*Programs are defined for this purpose as majors, options, areas of emphasis, areas of concentration, minors, or any collection of courses which will be identified to students as a sequence designed to provide specific academic expertise.

Revisions approved by Provost Larry Gould (04-09-03).

Procedures for Approval of New Departments

In all procedures involving the creation of new departments from existing ones, or the combining of two or more existing departments, the decision-making process shall include meetings of the president and/or provost and all relevant deans with all affected faculty and chairs.

Revised and approved by President Edward H. Hammond (04-10-97).

Virtual College

The Virtual College is the administrative unit charged with coordinating academic outreach programs at FHSU. The unit provides learning opportunities at the certificate, associate's, bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degree levels, primarily through the innovative use of online instruction. The Virtual College cooperates with the Colleges of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Business and Entrepreneurship; Education; Health and Behavioral Sciences; Science, Technology and Mathematics; and the Graduate School to extend the institution's academic instruction resources to the people of western Kansas and beyond.